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Short stories: Crime

by Zachariah Langley

Created on: June 28, 2009

Walking, almost skipping, down the street, the man in black gets closer to the bar he was in earlier, and begins humming 'If I Only Had A Brain." In the bar, three older Italian men sit around a table. One counting money from the night's till, one pouring a drink for himself and the other two, and the other lighting a fat cigar.

"Can you believe the balls on that freak that came in earlier," the one in the middle say to the other two snickering slightly. They all remembered the guy, like it would be hard to forget.

"He walks in like he got no good sense anyway," the other says quickly counting through money. "Then demands we pay him." The three laugh like they did almost when he said it to them.

"Guess we didn't have to beat his head in," the guy on the left says taking a long drink of cognac. "He smiles at you, probably gay.."

"Hey, you can't tell these days," the guy with the cigar says.

"..an says he's gonna be back to help close." They don't evenhave time to pray the man walks through the door so quick, and this time with a huge shotgun. He doesn't say a word when he unloads on the three men, shredding money, glass, wood, skin, and bone.The shotgun clicking lets him know he's empty,although he could have stopped firing two or three shots back. Walking toward the men he begins singing the song this time..

"Oh I," he sings grabbing a chair across from what's left of the men, "could tell you why," he continues, winging the chair behind the bar smashing up what was left from his shooting spree. He extends his arms as if to ask an invisible crowd how it is, "the ocean's near the shore." Continuing to hum, he kisses the top of the remaining man's head, as if it were a holy relic. "I have something for you," he says reaching into his coat pocket, "from the Wicked Witch," and pulls out a Scarecrow doll. The man sets it in the middle of the table, and walks off smiling. As he opens the door to leave he pulls out a small trigger, then begins walking fast smiling maniacally.

"How about a little fire Scarecrow," he says, pushes the trigger, and throws it to the ground breaking it. Back at the bar, music comes from the doll, then singing.

"I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers, consultin' with the..." BOOM! The explosion shakes the ground and even blows back surrounding cars. One, a beautiful red Cadi, gets flipped onto it's roof. A few hours later, police and fire crews just get everything slightly under control so the crime lab and detectives can work the scene.

"My God what a mess," Detective Stone says scanning over the debris.

Learn more about this author, Zachariah Langley.
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